Criminal defense

October 12, 2022

Three Teens Charged in Carjacking Spree, Vehicular Homicide

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Four people, including three teens, have been charged in a carjacking spree that ended with the death of a 55-year-old woman. Police say the perpetrators carjacked two women, set a pickup truck on fire, and then caused a deadly crash after a police chase. The 17-year-old driver has been charged with murder and three counts of aggravated fleeing. Another 17-year-old has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon. Others are facing charges of trespass to a vehicle and weapons violations.

The teens carjacked two vehicles in a short time before setting fire to a pickup truck they had stolen earlier. At that point, police became aware of the teens, and a chase ensued. The chase reached speeds of 60 mph and only stopped when the stolen vehicle crashed into a Toyota driven by the 55-year-old victim.

Understanding the Murder Charge

October 7, 2022

18-Year-Old Held After Carjacking, Battery, Against 61-Year-Old Man

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Police have confirmed the arrest of an 18-year-old after a vicious carjacking against a 61-year-old man in Chinatown. The man was also of Asian descent. It is unclear if the man was targeted because of his ethnicity, but crimes against the Asian population have skyrocketed since COVID-19. Asian business owners are now being targeted for hate crimes and burglaries. Many believe that Asians avoid using banks, making their homes prime targets to rob. In this case, the perpetrators may have targeted the area hoping to find an Asian with a wad of cash on them. Nonetheless, the beating itself was vicious, and the 61-year-old man was found unconscious in the street.

Police believe that there are four suspects involved in the carjacking, but thus far, only one of them has been apprehended. The suspect is currently being charged with attempted murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking. Another juvenile has been arrested in connection with possessing the victim’s stolen vehicle, but it is not believed that he was involved in the carjacking attempt. It is unclear if he will be charged with a crime.

The carjacking

October 5, 2022

CPD Officer Facing Sexual Assault Charges for Incident with Transgender Citizen

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A federal grand jury has indicted a Chicago police officer on charges of illegally detaining a trans woman and forcing her to perform sexual services against the threat of going to jail. The officer was a 29-year veteran with the force when he resigned in 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He also faced a civil complaint filed by the victim. The complaint was settled in 2020, but little is known about the details of the settlement.

The same officer was accused in another complaint of sexual misconduct after demanding that a woman he had just pulled over follow him to an alley, where he proceeded to masturbate. That lawsuit was settled in 2019. Now, the officer is facing criminal charges related to sexual misconduct under the color of law. As of 2019, the officer had faced 44 complaints. The officer has been charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Since the allegations include sexual abuse, kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, extortion, and whatever else, prosecutors will be looking to place the officer behind bars for as long as they possibly can.

Analyzing the charges

September 30, 2022

Former Chinese Exchange Student Turns Out to be a Spy

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A Chinese foreign exchange student and his handler were accused by the U.S. government of attempting to steal trade secrets from American companies. While most companies sell stuff on the internet, some companies actually produce innovative technologies that are protected by patents. If there is one thing communists do not care about, it’s patents or intellectual property. The student was accused of collecting the names of major scientists and engineers to target for theft of trade secrets. His handler was also convicted at trial in the first criminal case against a Chinese spy in the history of the U.S.

The student was caught after attempting to recruit a contact stateside. He texted a picture of his contract with the Chinese intelligence agency MSS. Prosecutors used this image to convict the student. However, they had to explain to the jury why a Chinese spy would use his cell phone to text spy contracts. They managed to convince the jury that while spies tend to have a very select skill set, not all of them are of James Bond quality. In fact, the Chinese government likely recruited the student because he was an electrical engineering major and not because he was a smooth sociopath acting at the behest of his national interests. The student seemed particularly interested in scientists from China and Taiwan working in the aerospace field. Seven of the scientists worked for U.S. defense contractors.

The student graduated from college in 2015 and then enlisted in the army reserves through a program that attracts foreign nationals with specialized skills considered vital to U.S. military defense.

September 23, 2022

47 Charged in Scheme to Defraud Pandemic Relief

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

There are 47 defendants in a federal lawsuit filed against the perpetrators of a $250 million scheme to defraud a pandemic-related relief program that earmarked funds for starving children. The Department of Justice announced that it was the largest pandemic relief fraud to date. The defendants have been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery. Federal prosecutors will push hard for maximum sentences as the federal government tends to take it personally when you deprive needy children of necessary food.

The fraud targeted the Federal Child Nutrition Program. The program sends federal funds to state governments to ensure that children in need are provided with daily meals. Each state has its own agency that oversees these federal funds. Reimbursements are conducted on a per-meal basis, and providers are allowed to keep 15% of the disbursed funds for administrative costs. Individual sponsors apply for applications through their state government and then coordinate meal plans with children in need. During the COVID pandemic, the federal government waived some of the requirements allowing for-profit businesses to partake in the program. It also allowed off-site food distribution for children.

The scheme called for the opening of fake food distribution sites to secure federal money from state governments. The fraudsters are accused of opening fake food distribution sites and then lying about how many meals they serve. The defendants created shell companies to take the funds, and then more shell companies to launder the proceeds. They submitted falsified reports to the federal government and fake attendance rosters of children who were served meals. They then used the proceeds to buy luxury items. The defendants used a website that randomly generates fake names and an Excel formula to randomly generate ages between 7 and 17.

September 21, 2022

Police Shooting Leads to Charges Against Two CPD Officers

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A recent shooting by two Chicago police officers has resulted in charges being filed and a judge’s order to prevent the withholding of a video that captured the event. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability announced plans to release the video to the public. The police union, which is defending the officers, filed a motion to suppress the video, which they say unfairly biases the public against the officers.

Authorities now believe that the two officers lied about being fired on first and actually were the first to shoot. The police claim that the video only shows half of what happened and fails to show a 17-year-old boy in a “two-point stance” holding a gun. No charges have yet been filed against a 17-year-old who was on the scene at the time of the shooting. Another man was hit and critically wounded, but it is unclear if the bullets came from police or the civilian.

COPA says the video was edited to protect the privacy of the minor. It remains unclear if the video shows the minor in a two-point stance holding a weapon and firing on police officers or not. However, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has stated that the officers lied about being fired on first. Superintendent David Brown concurred with Foxx’s findings that there was no exchange of gunfire prior to the officers opening fire on the suspects. At that point, the 17-year-old did pull a gun on the officers and returned fire. Both officers have been stripped of police duties and are now facing charges for the shooting.

September 16, 2022

Illinois Mines Prisons to Fill Job Vacancies

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

States across the U.S. are seeing labor shortages, perhaps due to COVID-19 or unprecedented job growth in recent years. Nonetheless, there are not enough Americans to fill the vacancies. Where can we find more laborers? Well, legislators are now looking at Illinois’ prisons to see if they can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

However, there remain several pitfalls for those released from prison, not the least of which is very few schools will take prison transfer credits. Why would they? Illinois requires that all potential barbers get 1,500 hours of credits before their licensing. This, of course, costs a lot of money. Those coming out of prison would have to pay for the entire 1,500 hours as opposed to transferring their credits from prison to the new school. Right now, very few schools are willing to take transfer credits from prison.

Now, it is becoming clear that reducing requirements, including high school diplomas or GEDs, is necessary to train the next generation of truck drivers, barbers, and other professional trades. Eliminating these barriers would make it easier for everyone to apply for these jobs. It would also cost less to apply for certification. These costs often present a barrier to entry for many of the urban poor who end up relying on banditry to acquire money. When there’s no hope that functioning within the system will result in a positive outcome, then the only option is to operate outside of it.

September 14, 2022

Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Enticement of Minor

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A 33-year-old Chicago man has been charged with enticement and coercion after blackmailing a Massachusetts teen into sending him pornographic images of herself. By the time he was caught, the man had collected hundreds of images of the teen under the threat of exposing her videos to the public. However, it was the teen who reported the conduct to law enforcement, thus resulting in the perpetrator’s arrest.

The perpetrator has since pleaded guilty to the crime and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

Understanding the Allegations

September 2, 2022

Teen Commits Nine Carjackings in One Day

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Call Guinness; it’s a new record! A South Side teen committed nine carjackings in one day. He has since been charged with 11 carjackings with a deadly weapon and two counts of damaging government property. No one was injured or killed during these carjackings. Instead, it appears to be an effort to commit as many carjackings as possible in as short a period of time as possible. While the carjacker is under 18, he is likely to be charged as an adult and face substantial prison time. His age will be considered a factor when sentencing him, but he will go to prison for these crimes.

Aggravated vehicular hijacking comes with a potential sentence of between four and 15 years. So, figuring this precocious teen will be sentenced toward the minimum because of his age, he still faces 44 years behind bars. That’s not good. Getting your name into Guinness isn’t a big enough payoff to spend the next 44 years of your life behind bars.

Now What?

August 26, 2022

Ending Cash Bail: What Does it Mean?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

While the media may have you believing that ending cash bail means allowing anyone charged with a crime to go free, the matter is not so simple or so haphazardly employed.

Imagine if you are charged with a crime you did not commit based on a witness misidentifying you. You don’t think it can happen to you? Well, it can. Now, if you have money, you just pay your way out of jail and wait for the charges to be dropped because the case is not strong enough. But what if you do not have the money to pay for the bail? You then have a choice. You can either plead guilty to the crime to get the matter settled and be on about your life, or you can fight the charges, stay in jail, and hope the system works the way it is supposed to. Since you have little faith in that happening for you, you end up taking a plea deal to get out of jail. In other words, the poor can be leveraged into plea deals simply to avoid being stuck in jail.

Is that fair? Of course, not. While some folks want to make the rules fairer, others are convinced that society would fall apart if we did not leverage the poor into false confessions based on the deprivation of their freedom.